LOS ANGELES: Tom Cruise is off to a good start for the new year with a second-straight No. 1 weekend at the box office.

Cruise's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" took in an estimated $38.3 million domestically over the long holiday weekend from Friday to Monday. That raised its total to $141.2 million.

"Ghost Protocol" also pulled in $37 million overseas to push its overseas total to $225.3 million. Overall, it has taken in $366.5 million so far.

The movie helped lift distributor Paramount to a record $5.17 billion in worldwide box office for 2011, topping the previous high of $4.8 billion set by Warner Bros. in 2010.

Paramount's 2011 hits included "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," which took in $1.1 billion worldwide, along with "Thor," ''Captain America: The First Avenger," ''Kung Fu Panda 2," ''Puss in Boots" and "Rango."

Finishing second again for the weekend was Robert Downey Jr.'s "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" with $26.5 million. The family sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" came in third with $21 million.

Rounding out the top five were Steven Spielberg's "War Horse" at No. 4 with $19.2 million and David Fincher's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" just behind at No. 5 with $19 million.